Women's XC

2009 season preview

Sep 10, 2009

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's and women's cross country
teams enter the 2009 season at opposite spectrums, as over half of
the men's roster is comprised of upperclassmen while only two of 11
on the women's side belong to the junior and senior classes, which
will necessitate veteran head coach Paul Carr both
manage and teach simultaneously.

"With this year's men, it's managing the process, where with the
women it's teaching it," said the 11th-year coach. "The men
will need to make sure they stay on track and not veer off in a
different direction. With the women, it's probably going to
take a little more time to bring this group along, having them
understand what has to be done to be a competitive, championship
cross country team."

Carr and sixth-year assistant coach Kim Spence
'04 welcome back a women's squad that finished as the
runner up at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
(NEWMAC) Championship for the second straight year. In fact,
the Lyons have placed among the top two squads at the conference
championship meet six times since 2000. Wheaton also took
15th at the 2008 NCAA Division III regional meet, while the men
placed fifth at their NEWMAC Championship for the third consecutive
fall.

In preparing for their first race at the Amherst College
Invitational, Carr indicated the approach to meets will differ
significantly this fall compared to years past. "What you're
probably going to see is the full roster compete at every meet,"
said Carr. "We didn't do that last year, as there were meets
where some athletes would stay with a coach here and practice on a
Saturday while other members of the team would go and run."

Carr cites his hope that the younger runners will bounce back
quicker as a reason for making a change in strategy as well as
stressing the importance of getting them meet experience in order
to prepare them for the championship portion of the season.

The lone female upperclassmen are senior Katie Pratt
(Litchfield, CT/Litchfield) and junior Christina Nelson (Cranston, RI/Saint Mary Academy-Bay View), each of
whom are captains. Pratt missed her junior season while
traveling abroad after finishing as one of Wheaton's top-three
runners four times as a sophomore. Nelson competed in four
races last fall.

On the men's side, seniors Andrew Brunhofer (Westfield,
NJ/Westfield) and Miles Souza (Norton, MA/Saint
Sebastian's School) enter their fourth year of
competition. Brunhofer looks to be more of a regular
contributor on the meet circuit after only running in three events
the last two years, as does Souza, who has competed in five meets
since his sophomore year. Souza will serve his third year as
a team captain.

Juniors Colin Fahey (Waltham, MA/Weston),
Nick Kacher (Waltham, MA/Waltham) and
Natan Levy (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Pine Crest School)
return to the fold, as Kacher will serve as one of the team's two
captains. Fahey was the top Lyon at the All New England
Championship, finishing among Wheaton's top-two runners five times,
while Kacher was Wheaton's fastest runner at the Division III New
England Championship. Levy only competed in one race as a
sophomore.

Sean Astle (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Ludlowe) is
the lone sophomore on the team and is gearing up for his first
collegiate race, as are freshmen Jake Dunn (Bethlehem,
PA/Liberty), Karl Mader (Northfield,
MN/Northfield) and Michael Richard (Chicopee,
MA/Holyoke Catholic).